Gurus of Modern Yoga - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0199938709 ISBN 13: 9780199938704

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2013

Synopsis

Within most pre-modern, Indian traditions of yoga, the role of the guru is absolutely central. Indeed, it was often understood that yoga would simply not work without the grace of the guru. The modern period saw the dawn of new, democratic, scientific modes of yoga practice and teaching. While teachings and gurus have always adapted to the times and circumstances, the sheer pace of cultural change ushered in by modernity has led to some unprecedented innovations in the way gurus present themselves and their teachings, and the way they are received by their students.

Gurus of Modern Yoga explores the contributions of individual gurus to the formation of the practices and discourses of yoga today. The focus is not limited to India, but also extends to the teachings of yoga gurus in the modern, transnational world, and within the Hindu diaspora. Each section deals with a different aspect of the guru within modern yoga. Included are extensive considerations of the transnational tantric guru; the teachings of modern yoga's best-known guru, T. Krishnamacharya, and those of his principal disciples; the place of technology, business and politics in the work of global yoga gurus; and the role of science and medicine. As a whole, the book represents an extensive and diverse picture of the place of the guru, both past and present, in contemporary yoga practice.

About this title

About the Author

Mark Singleton is an Instructor at St. John's College.

Ellen Goldberg is Associate Professor of South Asian Religions at Queen's University.

Review

"Gurus of Modern Yoga offers needed treatments of contemporary figures whose current popularity far exceeds existing scholarly work on them-including Swami Ramdev, Sri Ravi Shankar, and Jaggi Vasudev-as well as several chapters on Krishnamacharya and his heirs."--Philip Deslippe, Nova Religio

"This fascinating collection of essays records the historical and sociological developments within particular yoga communities impacted by modernity, globalism, consumerism, competition, and technology...It is a rich contribution to the field. Recommended."
--CHOICE

"Mark Singleton and Ellen Goldberg have put together an enlightening survey of the leading yoga gurus from around the world within the Hindu diaspora." --Spirituality Practice

"Mark Singleton and Ellen Goldberg have assembled a group of essays that combine critical rigor with sympathetic insight, including many by authors with extensive personal background in the practice of yoga. It is a welcome development that the scholar-practitioner model is becoming an accepted part of the study of Indian religions. This excellent book will likely become the go-to resource for the study of modern gurus and guru-based movements." --Andrew J. Nicholson, Stony Brook University

"This is a well-organized volume and a great resource. The essays present interesting biographies and fascinating developments of a worldwide spiritual industry that in the U.S. alone has an annual sale of supposedly more than $27 billion." --Numen

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0199938709
• ISBN 13: 9780199938704
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 416
• Editor: Singleton Mark, Goldberg Ellen